Stay up to date:Get a free personalized pregnancy and baby newsletter from What to Expect.com

Get your free personalized pregnancy and baby newsletter

or

I'm trying to conceive

I don’t live in the U.S.

First Time Mom

By clicking "SIGN UP," you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We will use your information to send you our newsletters, coupons and special offers, and we share your information with our partners

Summary: It's not just what you eat during pregnancy that can affect your child's weight in the future. Watching TV during mealtimes while pregnant might mean you're more likely to keep the screen on while you're feeding your baby, finds new research. Fortunately, there are simple, effective ways to foster more mindful eating and feeding.

By Marygrace Taylor | Posted: May 6, 2013

An important new finding on mindful eating and feeding for moms-to-be: Pregnant women who watch television during mealtime are more likely to keep the tube turned on while feeding their babies, says a new study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver.

Researchers analyzed data from an early childhood obesity prevention program at Bellevue Hospital Center/NYU School of Medicine in New York. During their third trimester, 117 moms-to-be were asked how often they watched TV during mealtimes. Three months later, each new moms was asked how often her baby watched TV while feeding.

Women who reported mealtime telvision-watching during pregnancy were five times more likely to expose their infants to TV during feeding than those who did not. However, while 71% of women said they watched TV while eating when they were pregnant, only 33% continued to do so while feeding their child. "I think some women changed their habits when the babies were born," says lead study author Mary Jo Messito, M.D., F.A.A.P., Clinical Associate Professor at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Mealtime TV exposure in young children is associated with behaviors that can cause obesity, like overeating, decreased attention to satiety cues, and less responsive maternal feeding style. It can also mean a missed opportunity to bond with your baby, especially while breast- or bottle-feeding. "During this time when you're cuddling with your child, you want to be looking back when they look up at you. You're making sure that they know they're important, which helps establish that fundamental connection," says Corrin Cross, M.D., a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) — which discourages media use in children under age 2, during mealtime or otherwise.

In other words, paying closer attention to your baby during feedings is good for her physical and emotional health. To minimize distraction and engage in more mindful eating and feeding, stop or decrease TV viewing as much as possible. You can also pay closer attention to your baby's satiety signals. Infants who try to move away during breast- or bottle-feeding are usually full. Older babies who have started on solids are probably full when they move their heads, push food away, or won't open their mouths. Above all, you'll know when your child has had enough when you're both paying attention for cues that she's full — rather than focusing on the screen.